R.I.P. Davy Jones

I started this blog in the first place because I missed Jani Lane so much.  Yeah, you read that right.  I didn't want to talk in a public place about my children, my work, or my writing.  I have many loves and hobbies, and despite years of message boards, none of these interests had ever called me to blog.  When Jani died I was compelled.  I knew no one who loved him as I did, and I thought that even if I were the tree falling in a lonely forest, I could make a sound.  I thought that having a public way to express my grief would help, and it did.

Before there was Jani, there was the Monkees.  Their 20th anniversary hit me right at the cusp of adolescence, in all its obsessive glory.  There were pictures in my locker, scrapbooks of lyrics, hours of fantasy with a very groovy soundtrack.  I still have the scrapbook, the music, and a replica of the necklace Davy Jones wore in the daydream believer video.  I have been wearing it for the past week.

I, like most, think that Davy died too young.  But, he did get to see his music redeemed (which is something Jani Lane will never get to do).  He did get good write-ups in Rolling Stone; his music is understood, and loved, now.  Before the fickle world gave in to the Monkees' charms, many of their fans were already there, and I was one of them. 

My children are familiar with the songs "Pillow Time," "Daydream Believer," "Sometime in the Morning," "I Wanna Be Free," and "As We Go Along," because I have sung them as lullabies since they were born.  As I said in my first post here about Jani, that's maybe the best gift I can give back.  It's the least I can do after Davy, unknowlingly, led me through my troubles with song, and led me to this very moment.

Wordworth said, hundreds of years ago,
"What we have loved,
Others will love, and we will teach them how". Rest in Peace Davy, for we will keep you alive.